There is a new sound emerging from Africa now called Afropop . The infusion of our African sound (Afrobeat, Fuji, Highlife, Kwaito music) with western sound (Pop, RnB, HipHop) .
Afrobeat is the mother that births and inspires a lot of what we listen today from new emerging artist. The father of that sound was the legendary revolutionary musician, Late Fela Anikulapo Kuti.
It's easy to be carried away by the slow jazzy instrumentation at the intro of this track. African Dreams carries a powerful message to the african youth home and abroad who long for the western definition of success and dreams at the expense of local traditions , values and dreams.
The music Fela created in the 70’s was nothing like the pop infused version we have today. However his son Seun Kuti has been the torchbearer of the movement continuing in the footsteps of his father till date .
After Fela had died in 1997, Seun, then only 14 years old, became the lead singer of Egypt 80. About three quarters of the current Egypt 80 line-up consists of musicians that not only played with Seun’s dad, but often were arrested and harassed alongside the founder of the Afrobeat movement, Fela Kuti.
You cannot detach Afrobeat from its political and african root. This is pure politically charged music from Africa. African dream is 3rd track from Seun Kuti EP Struggle Sound. Struggle sound evokes the power of Afrobeats as a force and voice for the people. The EP was co-produced by Robert Glasper, who also did production work for Seun's last album A Long Way To The Beginning.
Seun Kuti’s mission and vision for Africa is embed in all of his music. The liberation can be felt in the instrumentation married alongside the knowledge concealed in the lyrics. Seun has carried his african gospel to the biggest festivals and stages across the world including Glastonbury .
You can learn more about Seun Kuti here:
About the curator - TJConnects
TJConnects is a tech specialist that currently lives and works in London, with over 10 years’ experience within the diverse Infocomm technology sector . I have been able to manage working on a few music projects as ad-hoc from time to time.
My relentless passion for music has been well documented through my lens as an amateur DJ from college days then to working as a trainee stage manager for a Live band , and further evolving into a different role as an artist manager / A&R consultant for indie artist .
Curating beautiful sounds comes to TJ easy due his greatly soft obsession for music.
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